Jiangnan Gongyuan, the largest imperial examination room in China, was once "overwhelmed" by too many candidates. It has expanded several times in history, and its center of gravity gradually moved eastward, eventually forming an irregular sector, which was restricted by Qinhuai River, Confucius Temple and Gong Xue. This shape is unique in many Hiram hospitals.
In Qing dynasty, there were 18 courtyards, all of which were regular rectangles or squares except Jiangnan Courtyard. Therefore, many people misunderstand that Jiangnan Gongyuan has always been square. This was true before the end of the Qing Dynasty, but with more and more candidates, Jiangnan Palace Garden continued to expand, forming an irregular plate. Mingyuan Building was built in 1534 (13th year of Ming Jiajing). Mingyuan Building is the main building of Jiangnan Palace Garden, which was rebuilt in Qing Dynasty. It is the oldest examination building in China.
Mingyuan Building has a square plane and a three-story wooden structure. The name of Mingyuan Building is taken from the book "University". The ground floor is surrounded by walls, with circular arches on each side, and four eaves columns pass through the roof from the ground floor, with staggered beams and columns and windows on all sides. Standing upstairs, you can see Gong Yuan, who plays the role of giving orders and directing the whole examination room.
Climb up and look around, and the whole Hiram's Hospital can be seen in a glance. This is a place where examiners and deacons stay alert and give orders during exams. Now Mingyuan Building is the main entrance of Gong Yuan, and the eight characters of "Learning from the scriptures and seeking talents for the country" are engraved on both sides of the gate, which shows the true meaning of Gong Yuan.
There is a couplet hanging downstairs in the south, which was written by Li Yu, a famous scholar during the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. The title is: "If you carve strict words, watch the gentleman crouch down and wait, and the ministers will do their best; In the same month, I like people here and have a panoramic view. " From the couplets, we can also see the purpose and function of setting up Mingyuan Building. The gate is hung with the words "Mingyuan Building" in gold, and the exterior wall is embedded with the "Monument of Gong Yuan in Jinling", which records the history of the rise and fall of Gong Yuan. Finally, the inscription lamented: "Today's century-old literary war is a commercial war, and a gentleman can watch the world change!" Dormitory is located on the east and west sides of Mingyuan Building, where scholars take exams. The brick walls on the left and right sides of the building are between one and two feet from the ground, and there are two brick supports on which upper and lower boards can be placed.
In the daytime exam, the upper board replaces the console table, and the lower board is a stool for candidates to sit on, which is used to answer questions. Take out the upper boards at night and merge them into the floor below to sleep as a bed. However, because the length of the building is only four feet (equivalent to 1.33 meters), people can't even stretch their legs straight when sleeping. Moreover, there is no door in the building, and candidates should bring their own tarpaulin as a door curtain to prevent wind and rain.
For nine days and seven nights of the exam, candidates answer questions and stay in the dormitory. At the end of each line, there is a dung number. No one can talk when going to the toilet, but only use gestures. There are words on both sides of the sign, one side says "quiet" and the other side says "convenient". There are still many elderly people who call the toilet "convenient", which is learned from the imperial examination.
Because it is very hot in autumn in Nanjing, candidates eat and live in small houses. Therefore, candidates often die accidentally due to heatstroke and food poisoning, and some are bitten to death by poisonous snakes hidden under the eaves of houses.
On the top of the lintel wall of each lane, there is a big word "Zi", and the arrangement number is determined by the order of "Thousand Characters". In ancient times, the policy of "no ceiling on the top and no guarantee on the bottom" was implemented for the examination of Jinshi. The youngest candidate in the building is only 13 years old, and the oldest candidate 103 years old. You can apply for the exam at any age. However, because the examination involves a large number of poems, books and regulations, few "prodigies" can pass the pre-test to enter the provincial examination of Jiangnan Gongyuan. Among the candidates of Gongyuan in the south of the Yangtze River, Yin Shu, the oldest scholar in the Tang Dynasty, "was over 70 years old when he took the exam", and he and his younger brother successively won the first prize, which was called "Wu Tong Shuangfeng".
The house fully embodies the fairness of the imperial examination, because candidates can take the imperial examination regardless of their status and family economic situation. Science examination is not only an assessment of grades, but also an assessment of candidates' character. There are some examination baskets in front of the candidates, which the candidates brought in when they entered the examination room. It contains some dry food and test equipment such as pens, ink, paper and inkstone, but the dry food brought by candidates must be cut open to prevent candidates from cheating.
In addition, when scholars enter the examination room, they are all crowded for admission. Some people were squeezed into the right pool at the entrance of the examination room and drowned. It was not until Lin Zexu, the national hero who wiped out opium in Humen, served as the examiner in Jiangnan Gongyuan that this situation was changed. By formulating detailed rules and regulations, Lin Zexu clearly defined the admission rules, and announced in advance the roll call time and locations of scholars in various counties, which enabled scholars to enter the market step by step, changed the chaotic situation of admission, and thus left a much-told story of "three visits to thorns, resolutely and forcefully reforming shortcomings". Flying Hongqiao is an important part and historical relic of Jiangnan Palace Garden, and it is known as one of the "three treasures" of Jiangnan Palace Garden. The other two treasures are Mingyuanlou and the inscription of Gong Yuan. Feihong Bridge is the dividing point of examination and marking in the imperial examination, and it is a witness and special building to prevent cheating in the ancient imperial examination. On June 22, 2002, it was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.
Outside the curtain door of Jiangnan Gongyuan, there is a clear water pool about ten meters wide, which divides Jiangnan Gongyuan into two sections. There is a stone bridge on the pool frame, namely "Flying Hongqiao". Feihongqiao Bridge is 6m wide and15m long. It is made of huge stones. On the guardrails on both sides of the bridge, the auspicious patterns symbolizing "connecting all the way" and "looking up to the distance" are engraved with high reliefs. The beauty of composition and exquisite carving are amazing.
Although the bridge has experienced ups and downs and historical vicissitudes for 500 to 600 years, it is still basically well preserved. Flying Hongqiao has a very important symbolic significance and role in the imperial examination era. It is the dividing point between the inner and outer curtains of Jiangnan Palace Garden. In order to prevent collusion between the outside examiner, that is, the invigilator, and the inside examiner, that is, the marking officer, Gong Yuan has strict regulations that no one is allowed to cross the "Flying Hongqiao" during the examination. Not only that, even acquaintances are not allowed to say hello across the bridge.
As the couplet of the Supreme Court said, "The curtain is divided inside and outside, and the joints are not ventilated." At that time, there was a saying that "paper flies over Hongqiao, and half of them get it." This means that if someone's results of the rural examination are recorded by officials outside the curtain, and after reading, primary selection, grading and stamping, they are sent to Feitian Hongqiao and handed over to the marking officials. At this point, he has a 50% hope of being accepted as a juror. In order to prevent cheating in series inside and outside the examination room, there are two high walls outside Jiangnan Gongyuan. There is a distance of more than ten feet between the two walls, forming a circle around the Hiram's Hospital. At the four corners of the fence, there are four watchtowers more than 20 feet high, and there is a circle of open space outside the fence, which prohibits people from approaching and building. This is the famous "Gong Yuan Street".
During the provincial inspection, both inside and outside the wall of Hiran Hospital were covered with soldiers, and they were heavily guarded. Because the top of the inner and outer walls are covered with thorns, it is also called "stabbing Wei". There are three doors for candidates to enter the examination room, and each door must strictly check the candidates and their clothes, pens, ink and oil lamps. In order to prevent candidates from carrying cheating answers in food (cakes or moon cakes are usually brought to prevent spoilage), when entering the examination room, the guards will cut all the cakes into an inch square with a knife. The last one is called Longmen. If contraband is finally found, the soldiers in the first two doors will be punished. The banned person will be deprived of his reputation for life, that is, he can no longer be an official for life, and will be tied to a wooden post in front of the Hiram's Hospital for two months. However, because scientific research is related to career, cheating has become a lingering shadow in scientific research. There is a flying pigeon passing books in Jiangnan Gongyuan. At that time, a pigeon was trained in the examinee's home, and the pigeon flew into the examinee's room at night. Candidates write small questions and tie them to pigeons' legs to bring them back. At home, he hired an expert to answer questions, and then let the pigeons be sent to the examination room again. In order to remind candidates not to omit copying, the family noted the words "there are words on the back" at the bottom of the front, but this guy actually copied it correctly and was found by the examiner. There are eight flags hanging on both sides of the road between Mingyuan Building and Zhigongtang, namely, learning from the Ming Dynasty, seeking talents for the country, climbing high and looking far, creating the world, carrying forward the past and opening up the future, connecting the three elements, pointing to the rising sun, Pengcheng Wan Li and the champion. These nouns are auspicious words that people like to hear and hear. The main exhibition hall of Hiram's Hospital is called Zhigong Court. To court means that this is the most just, open and fair place to select talents. The museum shows the introduction of Chinese imperial examination system and related items. There are 103 small clay figurines on display in the cupboard, which reflects a scene of crossing the street after being admitted to Jinshi. The middle three are the top three among the Jinshi (the top three riding a white horse in the middle are the top three, and the two sides are the second and the flower detective respectively). The museum displays the first prize, the second prize and the flower-exploring table won by China provinces. As can be seen from this table, Jiangsu was the largest in the whole Qing Dynasty, followed by Zhejiang and Anhui, so people often say that talents came from the south of the Yangtze River.